February pick up thread
 

Extremely happy, beyond believe actually, to have been able to pick up this 52 Topps Roy Campanella card thanks to Harliduck (John Otto)

In the January pick up thread John wrote this and I'm glad to say I'm the extremely lucky individual that he sold it to.

"Curt...a local card shop, owner is a friend of mine who saves any vintage buys for me before putting them for sale. He is slowly getting a trickle of 52's in from an older gentleman who opened them in packs as a kid on the east coast, so new to the hobby cards from the original owner. I made a deal with a net54 member and sold it to him for exactly what I paid and now it's at SGC to be graded. It's no longer my card and probably one of those deals where I'll probably regret that later...haha...but super happy to help a fellow collector on an iconic card. Only one I've ever seen or held. I stopped by the shop today and a couple more high numbers came in, I just listed them on the B/S/T for pretty much what I paid. I've given up on 52's considering the Mantle is probably out of my reach, so trying to help others..."
https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=329847

Just an unbelievable gesture, imo, and it speaks volumes to not only what a great and thoughtful person John is, but it also speaks volumes about the kinds of people that one can encounter here on Net54.

Again, John, I can't thank you enough for doing this for me.
Helping a fellow collector complete his set like this is something I never would have dreamt of let alone it actually happening.

Thanks again so much! :)

Dale

That is awesome, congrats on the pick up.

Congrats Dale and good on ya John. That's what this forum is all about.

Go9d for you Dale, are you really done with the set now? If so, congratulations.

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Sweet Campanella! I was wondering if you got that card. Congrats on the pick-up.

Bad choice of words, Al. I should have wrote "to further help me complete my set"
I still need 3 highs but I am getting there.

Thanks guys. :)

Thanks for the kind words Dale...as I've said, just really honored to be apart of your journey to finish the most iconic post-war set that has your family ties. I've had so many here help me on my journey, just a testament to the wonderful net54 community that adds so much value to all our passion. I don't think I have met anyone here in person, but feel like so many are my friends!


Can't wait to hear about your successes with your remaining 3...ALMOST there! :)

I love hearing about stories like that, Dale and John. There are plenty of great people in this hobby.

This 69 Banks arrived yesterday. A short back story. I had a nice copy of this card before and sold it to a Banks collector here on net54 who was down to that as the last card to complete the run. At the time, I didn't really collect Banks, so I was happy to have it go to a great home. Since then, every time I see a decent copy, I would feel a bit of seller's remorse. Banks has a bunch of great-looking cards, but the 69 is amazing. Well, I found another copy, with dynamite centering (especially for 1969!), great color and registration. So I had to go for it. Happy to have this card...again.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...f895b7cd_b.jpg

Was finally able to pick up my first Jackie Robinson yesterday from my LCS.

Continuation of my current theme here. A collection of Senators players for my team set collections. Getting down to finishing off the Topps runs. The older card pickups will be much slower to come by.

And if anyone has some lesser grade 69 Supers of Frank Howard and Camilo Pascual I am interested.

Cheers

B.T.

Congrats, Dale. Good luck on the final 3.

Thanks so much again, John. Like I mentioned, acquiring Mr. Campanella has really motivated me now to finish the set. Without Campy, (as I didn't think I'd like ever acquire one) my desire was waning, but now, thanks to you, it has been reignited. :)

Thanks, Jay. :)

That's a beauty, Ian. Those 69s are tough to find centered, for sure.

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Great looking Banks...love the centering and color!

Congrats on a beautiful Jackie!

A couple of Senators additions today. The Mantle HR, I picked up at a show in Vegas today and the Howard Milk Duds came in the mail today.

The Mantle card is a bit hammered but that is fine, it completes my 61 Senators team set, I'm good!

Cheers,

B.T.

I have always found this card to be one of the most visually stunning ever. Such a gripping shot of concentration inside the ballpark cathedral known as the Polo Grounds. It would've been a bit better if the photog took a wee step back, but Campy still looks mah-velous...

Attachment 555723

I took my grandson to a model train show this past weekend. I enjoyed looking through the paper items (passes schedules postcards) but didn't buy anything. I spied a couple of boxes of baseball cards behind a dealers table and he was glad to let me look through it, but it was filled with late 80s cards which I wasn't interested in. But in the bottom of the box was this beat up photo that measures 11"X14" and I bought it for $1.
Larry


https://i.imgur.com/USNeJ2wl.jpg

Not technically pickups, but a small sub return. If any of you remember “Pube Mantle” from back around last November, that is this ‘63 - returned thankfully this time in a fresh slab, free of short and curlies. If anyone doesn’t think SGC is tough on centering, I would present these cards for evidence. The ‘69 Mantle was a bust of an older PSA 6 slab. The Aaron too I would think could have pulled at least a 6 had it been centered better. Oh well, I love these cards - and am happy.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...1762678c93.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...ae8407fb15.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...19f4cae66c.jpg
https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...767c8e87ed.jpg


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I am flooding the month with my Senators pickups. There are some fantastic cards received from many of you this month. Congrats on the awesome pickups!

Here are mine.

Happy collecting all!

Cheers,

Butch

Those cards look just fine.

Sadly, I believe the current crop of graders is placing a disproportionate amount of weight on centering. After all, it's the card attribute everyone can plainly see without a professional grading company's opinion.

If technical grades are primarily a result of centering, what the hell are people paying for? It used to be for identifying things that couldn't be easily seen in an online image.

Clemente for a buck, and such a nostalgic image. Congrats on the pick up.

Lots to like with this one. :)

https://baseball-trivia-game.com/images/67_nl_hr.jpg

Great looking card with a couple of all-time greats on there!

I've always had a soft spot for those cards.
In case you didn't know, (as I was also told), this card is the only one that has Clemente, Mays and Hank together on one card.

That's a good one. I don't have that one yet...but it'll be an awesome one to acquire at some point!

Pirates photo
 

Now you’re getting vintage Pirates photos at a model train show? Lucky Larry you are aptly named!!!

Another exciting add from the '56 Topps set. I am really happy with the eye appeal here for a "4".

https://baseball-trivia-game.com/images/56_aaron.jpg

I don't follow them religiously but based on what I have seen, the price of them has been in a steady upward trend lately so don't leave it too long.

Picked up a couple reasonably priced mid-grade copies of classic cards from the '70s. Auction wins from Collector Connection.

(and yes, a cat hair wound up on my scanner...it happens)

Yeah, just looked what they've been going for...pretty impressive prices in high grade for sure.

Yeah, it's been pretty surprising what some have gone for lately.
I remember when I got mine, (when collecting 52 Topps was slow) they weren't very popular but that didn't stop me, as like I mentioned, I liked them, plus it filled a void.
Not sure what it is but lately I've noticed a lot of them gaining in popularity.
None of mine are gradable, imo, but trying to save money awaiting for more 52's to pop up, I was fine with that.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/1965-Topps-S...orig_cvip=true

I like leader cards so much, I wrote an article about them.

I look back at PSA 7 graded copies I bought back in say 2016-2018, and the prices were so insanely low compared to today. I was paying less than $20 each for a lot of them back then. Some of the same cards are going for $75 now.

Great article...

As a set collector, the rise in cost was sudden, and shocking. They used to be bargains...those days are over! Great examples, thanks all!

Thanks. I would have to agree with you when anymore centering alone has the ability to downgrade a card by 2, even 3 full points or more. In the 80's and early 90's - centering was just one aspect of grading. Now assuming the card doesn't have a wrinkle or a crease, it's probably the single most important thing along with corners. While I can appreciate the market moving towards desiring perfectly centered cards, those that are just mild to moderately OC and don't look miscut level horrible should not be treated as harshly, IMO. It's part of how the vintage cards were made, and in this day post slabgate, a slightly OC card if anything is just further proof of authenticity. I will look for cards OC up to 70/30 side to side, and even worse than that top to bottom on a lot of vintage stars lately - simply because they are so much cheaper - even if sharp otherwise. While there are OC cards that for whatever reason bother me and I will avoid, I'm not fanatical about it like some people are. I think a lot of this has to do with growing up collecting old cards when centering wasn't even a consideration for the most part.

Clemente's second most aesthetically appealing card (right behind his 1956 Topps card) in my humble opinion. Hoping this is a slight upgrade to the other one that I own. I'll find out when Bobby's recent PSA group submission returns in August 2023. :p

Thank you! I appreciate the kind words.

Yes, the leader cards used to be silly cheap. Cards with 2 or 3 Hall of Famers, selling for just over the price of a common.

We always collectively called them 'junk' cards (leaders, checklists, playoffs/World Series, etc.) and grouped them together in the back of the box, but they ain't no junk no more (especially your card!).

I just wish that when I was informally grabbing them a few years back I'd finished the job. They've gotten a bit tougher to snag affordably at this point.

With local pickups lately, I've been on a long, mostly lower grade raw trend. But sometimes a little high end splurge does the heart good:

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...cc9af9640d.jpg


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Not all LL cards are of the multi-hall-of-famer persuasion, but sometimes the cheap ones are still kinda neat.

https://baseball-trivia-game.com/images/79_ll_7.jpg

This arrived this week…

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...e485ffa9a5.jpg


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I understand that eBay is the devil .. but if you stick with it you can come up with deals I got 53 Jackie Robinson less than SMR and it’s a nice one - also the void if damage sticker was virtually not applied whatsoever and easily opened

Nice card, Eric!

Forgot to add this. Picked this up a coiled weeks ago. The 66 Mays is one of my favorite Mays cards..

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...7197c291a4.jpg


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Rob, The 66 Mays and Seaver RC are outstanding!

Just got around to scanning this addition to my growing Hammerin Hank collection.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...3a7dc9a8_c.jpg

Had a blast today (if "blast" can be defined as being crammed into an overcrowded, tight space with 99% of the tables vending the shiny stuff, while everyone used their bulky backpacks to turn the room into a human pinball machine) at a show today, and negotiated like hell to bring home some serious eye (appeal) candy at pretty nice prices.

The 1954 #1 Teddy Ballgame is the best PSA 3 I will ever see (and it's newly graded), the 1969 #95 Johnny Bench is deliciously centered and sharp, and it's everybody's favorite card from that era. With the 1961 Mantle HR card, it comes down to this: if you can find any decent looking Mantle card for under $100, you jump...

Attachment 559601

Attachment 559602

The Bench is not even close to centered. Did you put the wrong card up? But Northrup and Hodges sure are keepers.

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Gee, surprise, surprise, more snark from you. I like the centering a lot. If you don't, who cares?? Move on.

Nice pickup’s Darren, they all look tasty.

Butch

Nice stuff, Darren! That Bench is my favorite of the group. That's one I'll eventually need for my '69 set. Looking forward to it!

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